Means for equal heating of flattening stones



K Sept. l5, 1925. 4 1,553,866

s. A. McKrrTRlcK MEANS FOR EQUAL HEATING 0F FLATTENING STONES Filed may 15, 1925 f J' 6. AT lL il 511| 1H-km luventr. .m W ,JM//nemzm; #MT/$41 Patented Sept. l5, 1925.

' UNITED s TA 'SAMUEL a MCKITTRICK. 0F SANDUSKY, omo.

MEANS FOR EQUAL HEATING OF FLATTENING STONES. y

Application led May 15, 1925. Serial No. 30,546.

T o all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, SAMUEL A. MoKrr- Thron, a citizen ofthe United States, residing at Sandusky, in the county of Erie and State of Ohio, have invented-a certain new and useful Improvement in Means for Equal Heating. of Flattening Stones, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

The present invention relates to the provision of :means vfor flattening curved shawls of glass either handy blown or Inachine blown, so that the resultant flattened shawls are as'V near perfectly flat as it is possible to get them.

A further object of the invention is the provision of means and structure whereby the flattened stones on which shawls are constantly flattened shall be soheated that. the top surface thereofshall be maintained in a flat. conditionand notA subject to a bow form, which form would subsequently be imparted tothe shawl when it is flattened on the stone.

Other objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds.

Reference should bev had to the `accompanying drawings forming a part of this specification, in which Fig. 1 is a sectional plan view more or less diagrammatically representing a glass flattening furnace with a lehr leading therefrom; Fig. 2 is an elevation of the flattening wheel showing the flattening stones positioned thereon.

Referring to the drawings, 1 indicates a glass flattening furnace which may be of usual construction having located upon the interior thereof the flattening table 2, 'and connecting withv the furnace the lehr structure 3. Heat is introduced into the furnacev in any desired manner or form, the portion indicated at 4, in the present construction, indicating the source of heat. No description of the lfurnace is necessary because such construction is well known, and the flattening table and flattening stones are placed in position to be subject to the heat within the furnace vin the same manner as is now done.

At the present time the practice is to place the flattening. stones, such as represented at 5, upon the flattening wheel or table 2, and then to brick up around the edges of the flattening stones until these flattening stones may be `.dsrcrbed as encased in brick werk.v

This brick work extends up along the edges of the flattening stones to within an ,i

inch or two of the top of the stone. These flattening stones may be given a comparatively speaking flat top, that is to say, they may be rubbed until the top surface is as near flat as it is possible to get these stones,

.but after they have been placed on the flattening wheel and have been heated the top course penetrate into the stone a certain dis tance, but the bottom part of the stone particularly when encased in the brick as before mentioned will never be as evenly heated as is the top of the stone. Consequently, under the expansive action of the heat the top of the stone will expand more than the lower part of the stone, and this will give to the upper surface of the stone a curved or bowshape.

Naturally, the glass shawls which are flattened against a stone having a curve or bow in it will have the same curve or bow after the glass is flattened against the stone, and this curve or bow will persist in the glass even 'after the glass is sent through the lehr, and is subsequently ready forruse.

In the present invention the flattening stones 5- are mounted upon the flattening wheel 2, butl the stones are. elevated above the flattening wheel, being supported upon supporting members which are indicated at 6. The number of supporting elements used for each stone will be suflicient to adequately support the stone and yet leave a` free space beneath the stone for the heated gases to circulate. The height of the flattening stone 5 above the table 2 is quite immaterial so far as this invention is concerned, but should be of a. height so as to permit the ready circulation of the hot gases beneath the flattening stone.

The construction which has just been described will mean that by the circulation of the heated gases beneath the flattening stone as well as the impinging of the heated gases upon the top of the stone, the heating effect with respect to the entire stone will be at least approximately uniform so that the stone will expand or contract in a uniform manner throughout its entire body. .Theretion of the usual heated gases Within the flattening furnace will sufficiently heat the bottom of the flatteniner stone in order to preserve the top of the stone flat. However7 if it be found in any instance that the gases circulating beneath the stone are not sufliciently hot to produce the desired effect7 it is within the province ofthis invention to provide'additicnal heatingmeans which Will directly heat the underside of the flattening stones in order to secure the equal eX- pansion' of the stone and prevent any Warping or curving of the upper surface of the stone.

It mayv also be stated that the effect of having the flattening stones elevated on supports will be to allow the heat to pass under the stone and reach that portion of the furnace adjacent the lehr Where the shawl istaken by the shoving pan to be transported from a flattening stonel to the lehr, and Will giveva better and more even heating effect tothe shawl While on the shoving pan.

Havingdeseribed my invention, I claim:

l. A flattening furnace comprising an enclosing casing, a table mounted for rotation within `the said casing, means associated with the casing for directing heating Inedium into the portion of the -furnace occupied by the said rotatable table, a flattening stone carried by thesaid rotatable table said flatteningl stone being elevated above the said tab-le thereby to 3er-mit the heating of the under side of the flattening stone as Well as the upper side thereof.

2. A flattening furnace comprising an enclosing casing, a table mounted for rotation Within the said casing,` means associated with the casing for directing heating medium into the portion of the furnace' occupied by the saidrotatable table, a flatteningstone carried by said rotatable table, and means for so lnountingsaid flattening stone upon he table that heating mediumL may be applied to the under side of the stone as Well as'v the uppery side thereof,

3. A fiattening furnace comprising an enclosing casing, a table mounted for rotation Within the said casing, means associated With the reasing for directing heating medium into the portie-n. of the furnace occupied by the said rotatable table,. a flattening stone carried by said rotatable table, legs for supporting theV said' flattening stone upon the said table whereby heating Inediuin may be app'liedrto the under side of the flattening stone as Well as the upper side' thereof.

ln testimony whereof, I hereunto afli'x my signature.

SAMUEL A. MGKITTRICK. 

